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CHARLOTTE -- For more than a year, 17-year-old Michael Johnson walked 45 minutes to catch a CATS bus and look for a job. He inquired at all the businesses in a nearby shopping center to no avail. "Either no one was hiring or I would get an application but I never got a call back," said Johnson.

The job market has been saturated with workers for the past few years because unemployment has skyrocketed.

On Wednesday, the state released January statistics that showed unemployment up to 11.1 percent. Comparatively, unemployment was 10.9 percent in December 2009, and 9.2 percent in January 2009. North Carolina's rate is still higher than the national average of 9.7 percent.

"I had no work experience before that and there were probably thousands of other people looking for the same job who had more or better experience than I had, so the odds were really against me," Johnson said. As he continued his search, someone in his church youth group suggested he turn to the Goodwill Youth Job Connection.

Bo Hussey, Spokesperson for Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont, said this is the time of year teens should look into their program because companies hire for summer jobs soon. "It's giving them the very, very basics that they need in the job search. And it gives them that little leg up that little advantage over another teenager to get that job."

The Goodwill Job Center helps people of all ages, but the Youth Job Connection focuses on teenagers 14 to 21-years-old. Teenagers can get hands-on training in customer service, food safety, resume writing and one-on-one career counseling.

After visiting the Job Center, Johnson said it didn't take him long to figure out what he was doing wrong during his job interviews. "I wasn't wearing any slacks or anything. I wasn't wearing a tie or any suit of any kind. I didn't even have my resume with me. I just had a pen and some paper. I was coming completely unprepared. I probably could have got a job if I had done that," he laughed.

While he credits the Youth Job Connection with helping him secure a job at Domino's, he said their help only got him so far. "You have to be the one proactive, cause they can only help you so far if you don't help yourself.

Goodwill officials say teens who want to find summer employment should sign up for job readiness classes now. The classes are free and offered after regular school hours.

For more information, visit: www.youthjobconnection.com